The grand Mosque of the Alhambra was built in 1308 by Mohammed III., and was in good preservation until the occupation of the French, who, according to Gayangos, entirely destroyed it. An account of it has been left to us by Ibn-ul-Khattíb, the Wizir of Yusuf I.: “It is ornamented with mosaic work and tracery of the most beautiful and intricate patterns intermixed with silver flowers and graceful arches, supported by innumerable pillars of polished marble; indeed, what with the solidity of the structure which the Sultan inspected in person, the elegance of the design, and the beauty of the proportions, the building has not its like in this country, and I have frequently heard our best architects say that they have never seen or heard of a building which can be compared with it.” Little more remains of this superb temple than the small oratory entered through a door in the wall opposite the altar of the chapel. Here the _mihrab_ is still to be distinguished. Before it, Yusuf I., in the act of prayer, fell a victim to the poniard of an assassin in the year 1354. Adjacent to the _mihrab_ is the ruined tower of Puñales, which presents many architectural points of difference from the rest of the palace, and has features which may have suggested these characteristics of the Mudejar style seen in other parts of Andalusia. The principal window of the tower was furnished with a wooden balcony with lattices similar to those seen in Constantinople and Cairo. Retracing our steps across the Patio de la Mezquita, we reach the spacious Court of the Myrtles or of the Fish-pond (Patio de los Arrayanes, or de la Alberca). This is the court first entered by the visitor through the modern entrance. It is one of the most beautiful parts of the palace, and gives a foretaste of the glories that lie beyond. One feels immediately transported to the East. “The originality of the architecture [says Don Francisco Pi Margall], the airy galleries, its rich _alhamis_ or alcoves, the splendid apartments of which glimpses are obtained through its arches, the fountains and foliage, the reflection of its stuccoed walls in the waters of the pond, the murmur of the breezes that agitate the dense myrtles, the transparency of the sky, the silence that reigns all about--all oppress the soul at the same time, and leave us for some moments submerged in a sea of sensations which reveal to us little more than the harmony of the whole scene.” The court forms an oblong, bounded at the north and south by two galleries supported on eight columns of white marble, and to the east and west by walls pierced with doors and twin-windows covered with arabesques, but differing in degree of ornamentation. At each angle we find an _alhami_ or alcove, where the Moors were accustomed to laze away the day, extended on rich carpets and divans. The walls of these little places are encrusted with reliefs in stucco, their roofs are of the stalactite pattern.